


Boy and His Flying Robot

by Lunarium



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alien Invasion, Aliens, Giant Robots, M/M, Mechanics, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2019-08-05
Packaged: 2020-05-31 09:16:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19422994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunarium/pseuds/Lunarium
Summary: Aliens threaten the people of Earth by tormenting them with their darkest memories.But there’s something particular about Ken-Ro.





	Boy and His Flying Robot

**Author's Note:**

  * For [The_Exile](https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Exile/gifts).



Infrared calibrator.

Check.

Dynotherms connectors.

Check. 

Supersonic Thrusters. 

…Check. 

Radio? 

Keno-ro pulled himself from beneath the giant robot and made for the cockpit. Hopping inside, he tested around a few of the switches and buttons and tugged on the thruster of interest next to the driver’s wheel, booting up the hard-drive, then switched on the radio. An old favorite from the alternative rock station filled the air. 

“Check!” he announced to no one in particular. “You’re doing well, love.” Grinning, he stroked the inner ceiling of the mech’s cockpit. The mech in turn thrummed in reply. 

“ _Please_ don’t tell me you’re going to start singing to your mech again, Ken-Ro!” Mar-Ja’s face appeared on a small screen on his dashboard. 

Ken-Ro laughed. “I’ll shut off the radio but it’s part of the diagnostics check.”

“And I have to hear all this?”

“Don’t think you have much of a choice, I’m afraid,” Ken-Ro laughed. “I’ll be testing the speakers next, and then—” 

An alarm went off as a screen flew up, a map of the sky displaying series of small red dots. 

“Seeing this?” Ken-Ro asked. He leaned back on his chair and tightened his hands over the yoke and gear shift, all thought of the diagnostics test forgotten. He eyed the dots as Mar-Jo’s voice boomed on the radio. 

“Swarm of Ifrit incoming, captain!” 

“Dispatch first line defense!” came the captain’s orders. Ken-Ro imagined Captain Muraiya watching a televised events (perhaps a more high definition screen) back at his tower at headquarters. 

“Looks like we’ll be fighting tonight, Rocky,” Ken-Ro said softly to the robot, listening for the replying thrum. Slipping off his overalls, he quickly changed into proper gear as Mar-Jo gave the command. 

“Mobile Defense Unit Bahamut-457!” 

The ground shook as the first line charged up and took to the skies. Ken-Ro watched as the gigantic robots soared upwards, wings extended, double the size of the robot’s height. 

“Mobile Defense Unit Danden-709!” 

A loud screech as a bridge not too far off opened up, another terrible rumble, and a series of robots shot from within the watery depths. Ken-Ro initiated liftoff, pressing a button here, a couple switches there, testing his gear shift, secured his helmet, and strapped himself snuggly to his chair. 

“Mobile Defense Roc-832!” 

“Ready to rock and roll?” Ken-Ro called out. Rocky thrummed loudly in reply and took off. 

By the time Ken-Ro reached the other giant robots, a line of defense had already been formed around the exosphere of the planet, blocking entrance for any of the Ifrit. There were too many to count; large, dark red, with a single vibrant green eye, their tongues clicked away in their long beaks, ready for the screech. 

The sonar shield. One important thing Ken-Ro hadn’t yet checked before lift off. 

“Shit,” Someone’s voice came through the radio. 

“It’s nothing we can’t handle,” Ken-Ro said. “One Ifrit or a million, they’re the smaller pests. Show me a Nasnas and then we’ll start screaming.” 

“You know what Ifrit can do, Ken-Ro!” the pilot gasped. 

Ken-Ro frowned. “Then don’t give them a chance! They thrive on—” 

As if on cue, the characteristic sonar-screech of an Ifrit blasted through the exosphere. Acting on impulse, Ken-Ro pulled up his shields, but the other pilot wasn’t so lucky. Screams rattled through the radio. 

“No, no—father—help!—the fire—no!” 

“Keep it together! It’s only your memories!” Ken-Ro yelled before an explosion sent him reeling. Steadying himself, he dialed back to headquarters. 

“We’re down one!” 

“Dar-Vo’s Unit has is on fire,” Mar-Jo confirmed. “Dispatching for retrieval immediately—oh! Another down—Ken-Ro—”

“You don’t have to worry about me!” Ken-Ro snarled and forced Rocky towards the heart of the swarm. The Ifrit shrieked around him, flapping their massive wings. He ordered Rocky’s arms upward and sent off blasts of energy, taking down one, two, three…

Rocky’s dashboard suddenly flickered violently, bright red, as Ken-Ro rocked from the impact. 

“Easy, love!” he gasped as pain shot through his side. Ignoring his own pain, he ran a quick diagnostic. “Mar-Jo, I’ve been hit! Fuel leakage on my right flank!” 

“Dispatching ARKNE-weavers,” came Mar-Jo’s voice. “Ken-Ro, how are you holding? You’re right in the belly of the swarm!” 

“I’m fine! Just get the weavers over here!” 

“They’re on their way.” 

Breathing heavily, Ken-Ro ran through his controls, making certain everything was fine for Rocky, long forgetting his own injuries. A tiny window on the side indicated that the ARKNE-weavers had just reached them. Anxiously he watched as Rocky’s vitals turned back to the green. 

“Good, good.” 

Looking up, he gasped. The largest Ifrit of the swarm, possibly even a level Nasnas, was right outside the dashboard. At the tip of its long wings were long talons which gripped Rocky’s head. Too late Ken-Ro realized his shield was down, and in that instant, with not much more he can do but sit back and take the hit, a massive ball of sonar struck through them—

—A child in the rain, homeless and parentless, until a tall speckled man leaned over him. 

“My name is Zar-To Muraiya, and I am the Captain of the Zustine Global Defense Organization. You look starving!”—

Ken-Ro smiled. 

—Another memory. Mobile Defense Unit Roc-832 stood so tall his neck cricked as he leaned back to get the full length of him. 

“He’s beautiful!” Ken-Ro gasped, rosy-cheeked, to Captain Muraiya. “I’ll wash him in exchange for staying here!” 

“Oh, I wouldn’t ask that from a child!”

“I want to!” —

A screech in the radio. “Ken-Ro! Can you hear me?!” 

But Ken-Ro was laughing. 

—Years pass. Rocky and Ken-Ro never parted. The robot was washed and always shining, and the interior vacuumed and always looking brand new; and when Ken-Ro learned enough about robotics, Rocky’s mechanics were tended to and always upgraded to the newest system. 

Together, they never lost a battle. 

_Together._ —

Searching, Ken-Ro could feel the Ifrit searching, digging for anything, sorrow at his days of being an orphan, fear during any battle, but there was never fear. He was so young that his years of loneliness washed over the moment he met his Rocky, and what was there to fear when he was encased in the heart of Rocky, just him and his most beloved? 

Opening his eyes, he smiled broadly at the hissing, confused Nasnas. 

“Couldn’t find any deep, dark secrets to torment me with?” Ken-Ro said. “Because there’s nothing more to me than what you’re seeing. I’m just a boy and his flying giant robot.” 

And with that, he commanded the newly-fixed Rocky’s arm and shot through the Nasnas and the entire fleet of Ifrit. 

Stroking his beloved’s yoke, Ken-Ro regarded their planet, saved once again. “Good job, love. Let’s head back home.”


End file.
